"It just demonstrates how hard it is to win on the road against a good team," Mendenhall said of the narrow win. "This was just the next game to improve our program. It just shows that we're not there yet. But we're getting closer. Our players will compete hard and try hard. We have not arrived but we're making progress. We're learning a lot more about this year's team.

"For them to come on the road, in this stadium, against that football team, I'll be glad to take a one-point win or any win we can get."

Washington played inspired football and was not going to go down quietly. Tied 21-21 well into the fourth quarter, the Cougars marched from their own four-yard line to the Husky six. That's when Harvey Unga, who rushed 23 times for 136 yards, fumbled before barreling over the goal line. Nate Williams jarred the ball from Unga's grip and Washington safety Tripper Johnson recovered it in the end zone.

"I thought I had (the ball) and I tried to dive in," Unga said. "The ball was a little bit loose as I was trying to get momentum. He made a good play on the ball. I coughed it up. That was that."

For BYU, it was a squandered chance to take the lead.

"It's tough when you're so close and you fumble on the goal line like that, when you lost an opportunity to put them away," said tight end Dennis Pitta, who hauled in 10 passes for 148 yards. "You have to regain your focus and move the ball."

On the sideline after the turnover, the Cougars' offense regrouped.

"It was a little demoralizing because we know we should have scored," said Hall, who completed 30-of-41 passes for 338 yards and three touchdowns. "But at the same time, we just drove the ball all the way down the field. We were saying, 'Hey, these guys can't stop us. If we just keep doing what we're doing, we'll be fine.' That's what we did."

BYU's defense forced a Washington punt and the offense promptly picked up where it left off, driving 84 yards in nine plays, culminating with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Hall to Pitta.

"We had another long drive and made some huge third-down conversions," Hall said. "Guys stepped up and made plays."

Washington coach Tyrone Willingham, whose team fell to 0-2 and whose job is jeopardy, praised his team for its effort.

"I'm extremely proud of our young men and the way they battled this afternoon," he said. "We had talked to them about coming out and playing like Huskies play — the kind of fight, the kind of effort, the kind of energy — and I thought very much they did that.

"Obviously there were a few things in terms of execution that we could have done better, but I thought our young men gave themselves the opportunity to win, and that should be the kind of pride that the Huskies should play with."

Next week, the Cougars entertain — fittingly enough — UCLA. The No. 23 Bruins upset Tennessee in their opener last week and had a bye this weekend.

For now, though, BYU is enjoying its road win over a BCS foe.

"I think people are going to make a big deal that it was our first non-conference road win in a while," Hall said. "For us, it's starting the season fast, it's executing and beating big teams early in the season.

"Washington was better than I think we thought they were. They played us tough and we've got another tough team in UCLA next week. We've got to prepare like crazy and keep it rolling."

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E-mail: jeffc@desnews.com